I’ve been writing a monthly column called “Man on the Street” for Pizza Today Magazine since 2011. Here’s a piece I wrote for the July issue about how New York City is losing its historic coal ovens. Pizza didn’t become completely entwined in NYC culture until after WWII when gas ovens made pizza by-the-slice common. …
Just about every week I’ll get an email asking for my recommendations for where to eat pizza in Naples. Lots of people seem to be visiting pizza’s birthplace lately and I’m delighted to help get people to the best places. There are SO MANY great spots and I certainly haven’t been to all of them, …
History Today, anything north of Houston Street is not considered part of Little Italy. If you stood in front of 290 Elizabeth Street in 1940 you would have been right in the thick of a Sicilian enclave. According to a 2003 historic preservation report, John and Angelina Bivona opened a bakery in that space in …
Hawaiian pizza is without a doubt the most polarizing pizza in history. Whether or not you enjoy eating it, the fact that this bizarre pizza is so pervasive begs our attention. Those who had not heard the story of its alleged invention are more likely to have caught wind of the tale in 2017 when …
New Haven is one of the most important pizza cities in America yet our understanding of its history is limited to a small hand full of surviving pizzerias. Author, historian, and tour guide Colin Caplan has researched the finest details of the Elm City’s pizza scene and will be sharing his findings at a live …
Join us on Wednesday, September 2 for a live conversation between Scott Wiener and Peter Regas about the early days of pizza in NYC. While oral history has become accepted as fact, these two independently followed up on the paper trail of America’s pizza forefathers to find that there’s far more to the story than …
Most people don’t realize the impact Domino’s Pizza had on the evolution of the pizza box. This episode of Tales of Modern Capitalism covers the subject.
Joe Migliucci was the friendly face behind the kitchen window every time we visited his family’s restaurant on pizza tours. Mario’s Restaurant began as a pizzeria in the early 20th century but transformed into a full Italian restaurant. Pizza is just a tiny part of the appetizer list, but it’s a link to the restaurant’s …
Brother’s Pizza on Port Richmond Ave on Staten Island was founded by brother Filippo, Bart, and Pietro Giove in 1975 just a few doors away from its current location. It’s the quintessential slice shop and home to one of the best Sicilian pizzas I’ve ever had. We lost co-founder Bartolomeo “Bart” Giove in October 2019 …
This Father’s Day we remember the pizza makers we lost over the past year. Francesco Giordano was born in Sicily in 1952. He immigrated to America in 1963, when he was just 11 years old. His first pizzeria job was in Ridgewood, right next to Bushwick, Brooklyn. At that time, the pizzeria was called Valentino’s …
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